Pilot (left) and Pets Alive volunteer greet three dogs after they flew
into Orange County Airport (Photo: Becky Tegze)

MONTGOMERY – Five privately owned small planes flew a mercy mission this weekend, bringing 25 dogs targeted for euthanasia in South Carolina to Orange County.

The mission on Saturday was coordinated by Pets Alive in the Town of Wallkill. The planes flew into Orange County Airport in Montgomery, said Pets Alive Executive Co-Director Kerry Clair.

“There is a whole network of pilots that own their own small engine planes and they can fly certain distances and they volunteer their time, their fuel, the planes, and they stops at various small airports along the way and they pick up dogs and they transport them,” she said. “In this particular case, they got the 25 dogs to us in five different planes.”

The dogs were rescued from kennels where they were among as many as 250
to be put to death this week alone in South Carolina. Many of the shelters
there have as high as a 99 percent kill rate, said Clair.

These dogs were transported by ground from South Carolina to North Carolina where the pilots loaded them aboard and flew them to safety.

A group of local Pets Alive volunteers met the pooches at the airport and brought them to the shelter near Middletown for care and to prepare them for adoption, said Clair.

Another 10 dogs were driven to Pets Alive Sunday as part of their continuing rescue effort.

Anyone interested in adopting a rescued pet may call 845-386-9738.

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